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Europe's hottest startup capitals: Barcelona

This article was taken from the November 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content bysubscribing online.

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For the third year, WIRED's editors have visited the continent's startup hubs to identify the ten tech cities you need to know about. Our conclusion: Europe is on a roll. Here are the 100 companies causing the greatest buzz, according to the local commentators, investors and entrepreneurs we surveyed.

BARCELONA

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The financial climate in Catalonia has somewhat put the brakes on its talent-rich startup sector. "The root of the reason is a shortage of angels," says Hermés Piqué of startup community Barcelona.IO. Although there are some angels active in the city, entrepreneurs are looking to the state, banks, corporations and the small number of local VCs to provide funding - but such sources are reluctant to invest in anything other than a sure thing.

The city's work/play lifestyle continues to draw in global talent -- attested to by the many startup events held in Barcelona. "Barcelona attracts a lot of international talent thanks to the lifestyle," says Christopher Pommerening, of Active Venture Partners. "True disruption and high growth in Barcelona are not as common as we would like," says Piqué. Here are ten startups that have achieved those goals.

1. Social Point

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Carrer de la Llacuna 166, 08018

Cofounders Andrés Bou and Horacio Martos were only 23 when they set out to build a games business. Graduates of Facultat d'informàtica de Barcelona, the entrepreneurs turned heads when they launched their debut free-to-play game on Facebook in 2011:

Dragon City, in which players breed a fighting force of dragons, became the second-highest-rated game on the site in 2012. During the first month of the game's iOS release in March, the app was downloaded two million times. Dragon City and titles including Social Empires and Pool Master have helped the social-game developer attract the fourth most active users on Facebook, with 42 million users per month. In less than a year, Social Point's daily active-user tally grew from a million to 6.5 million. The freemium model, where users can make in-game purchases, generated revenues of $20 million (£12 million) in 2012.

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2. Restalo

Carrer de Guitard 43, 08014

Founded in 2009, Restalo is the leading provider of real-time online restaurant reservations in Spain and Italy. Founder and CEO Juan Otero saw an opportunity to replace pen-and-paper reservations with a cloud service: "With the increase in mobile devices, social media and micropayment methods, technology is infiltrating the restaurant and food industry like never before," he says. Restalo generates monthly revenues of €2.2 million for its restaurants. Partnerships with Google, TripAdvisor and Yell have increased numbers.

3. Kantox

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Carrer de Llacuna 162-164, 08018

Founded in June 2011 by Philippe Gelis and Antonio Rami, Kantox is an alternative marketplace for companies to buy and sell foreign currency to each other, with reduced charges. "It's the opposite of the forex market," says Gelis. Kantox has traded more than $50 million (£30 million) since November 2011.

Ones to watch

4. Whisbi

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Carrer Calàbria 169, 08015

Whisbi helps brands close online sales with a service that allows sales teams to talk to customers via a two-way telephone or one-way video conversation without the customer needing any software. Whisbi's business model charges brands a small fee for every lead entering their system, or for use of their own video-agent team.

5. Yuilop

Carrer de Paris 207, 08008

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Yuilop is a mobile app offering free calls and texts to other mobiles - without the other user needing the app. Users don't pay to make calls or texts, but generate a virtual currency, "Energy", by receiving calls and sending alerts. CEO and founder Jochen Doppelhammer is hoping to expand on Yuilop's five million users with entry into the US this year.

6. Knok

Carrer del Comte d'Urgell 240, 08036

Knok has set its sights on changing the face of the holiday industry; this home exchange allows members to stay free of charge in others' homes. An annual membership charge of ¤95 includes unlimited swaps and covers all insurance costs. Knok's 20,000 registered users have a choice of 159 countries to visit. Knok raised €500,000 in a private funding round in March.

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7. ChangeYour Flight

Carrer de la Llacuna 162, 08018

ChangeYourFlight helps passengers to cancel non-refundable plane tickets. The platform aggregates passenger requests for partial refunds on flights free of charge. When a request is accepted, the user receives a refund and a voucher for another flight, while the airline gets to resell the available seat, aiding both parties.

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Llull 321-329, edificio CINC, 08019

Launched in February, Passnfly provides a digital solution for checking in to flights. It automatically checks in passengers to their preferred seat, and sends the boarding card to their phone. Passnfly is partnered with 200 airlines and expanding: travel-services provider Amadeus believes 15 per cent of all check-ins will be processed automatically by 2015.

9. CloudWork

Avinguda Diagonal 622 7.2, 08021

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Launched in October 2012, CloudWork is a web-based service from Nubera, the creators of independent app marketplace GetApp. It enables small and mid-size companies to increase their productivity by connecting their business apps, pooling data and processes from previously isolated sources such as Dropbox and Twitter.

10. Akamon

08902 L'Hospitalet del Llobregat

Akamon provides social gaming with a local hook; every time it enters a new market in Latin America or southern Europe, it develops three to five locally themed games. The company won Best Gaming Startup at GamesBeat 2012. The group had a turnover of $8.5 million (£5 million) in 2012.